If you’re wondering why this photo of three cute little girls is the featured image of a metaphysical article, it’s because this image really gets me into a state of happiness, abundance and gratitude — powerful heart states (heart coherent) that allow me to be a master manifestor.

Actually, this is my desktop background image, because every time I look at this photo of my three oldest grandchildren (Evie, Claire, and Maya – from left to right), I smile and my heart opens wide. I recommend that you too create a similar desktop image that makes you smile from the depths of your heart. After you read this article, you’ll understand why.

“Anyone who becomes seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that there is a spirit manifest in the laws of the universe – a spirit vastly superior to that of man.” ~ Albert Einstein

As founder and editor of Conscious Life News, I’ve been on a quest to understand and master life for over 40 years now. Like anybody else, I’ve had my ups and downs, my victories and my setbacks, but I’ve been on a spiritual quest, with an open and heart and mind, so every experience has been my teacher.

This article is my attempt to compile much of what I’ve learned about the nature of reality and how to make the most of it. I could only cover the topics here in brief, as covering them in detail would take tomes, but I’ve provided you with lots of great links, so you can dive deeper. There’s always more — much, much more, my friend, so keep learning and growing!

Let’s get started…

1) We Are Spiritual Beings Having a Human Experience

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

“The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it’s real because that’s how powerful our minds are. The ride goes up and down, around and around, it has thrills and chills, and it’s very brightly colored, and it’s very loud…” – Bill Hicks

We are not human beings who are striving to be spiritual; we are already spiritual beings. That is, we existed in spiritual form before we were born into this physical world. First and foremost, we are eternal Souls.

In the remarkable book, Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives, hypnotherapist Dr. Michael Newton, reveals what it’s like in the spirit world after death on Earth. Newton details the accounts of twenty-nine people who he placed in a state of super-consciousness. While in deep hypnosis, his subjects described what happened to them between their reincarnations on Earth, including: details about how it feels to die, who meets us right after death, what the spirit world is really like, where we go and what we do as souls, and why we choose to come back in certain bodies.

We come into this world with basic theme(s) we want to explore. Some come into this world to experience being a superstar athlete or a movie star, while others choose to be born into poverty. Still others choose to play the role of villains (like Hitler) so that we can experience the extremes of duality.

We choose the body that we incarnate in based on our chosen theme. Our soul enters the fetus shortly before, during or after birth.

2) Time is an Illusion

“The distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistentillusion.” – Albert Einstein

“Time isn’t precious at all, because it is an illusion. What you perceive as precious is not time but the one point that is out of time: the Now. That is precious indeed. The more you are focused on time—past and future—the more you miss the Now, the most precious thing there is.” ~ Eckhart Tolle

“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.” ~ Eckhart Tolle

Time, as we know it, is an illusion. There is only the NOW – the Present moment.

We think of time as having three parts – Past, Present, Future. But the Past is only a collection of memories. We can’t experience the Past, we can only remember it. And we can only remember it in the Present.

And the Future is only a mental construct in the Present. We can’t experience the Future until it “becomes” the Present.

That leaves us only with the Present – the ever-changing Present. It’s always NOW. But it’s an ever changing NOW. In an effort to cope with the change, we came up with the concept of time.

Where you place your attention is where you place your energy (energy flows where attention goes). If you’re living in the past or dwelling on the future, then you are syphoning energy out of the present moment and will have NO energy to consciously create with.

Every minute you spend worrying about the future or regretting the past is a minute lost, because all you have to live in is the present, the Now. So, practice living in the Now.

3) Reality is an Illusion

“As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter.” ~ Max Planck, Nobel Prize winner in Physics in 1918 and considered to be the founder of quantum theory.

“A wise man, recognizing that the world is but an illusion, does not act as if it is real, so he escapes the suffering.” ~ Buddha

We live in a reflective reality. Physical reality is just a reflection – it’s an illusion. Physical reality is just a neutral set of props. Circumstances do not have built in meaning. You were created to give life meaning. The meaning you give it determines not only what you get out of it, but literally shapes what you perceive

4) Your Brain Constructs What You Perceive To Be Reality (Through Your Senses)

“Well, for each of us the brain creates a whole, unique universe. It contains everything we know. Everything we see or touch. Everything we feel and remember. In a sense, our brains create all of reality for us. Without the brain, there’s nothing. Some people find this idea scary, but I think it’s rather beautiful.” ~ Gavin Extence

“The concern of your brain is not to see the actual nature of reality, but to represent the reality to you in such a way that suits your needs.” ~ Abhijit Naskar

Even though reality is an illusion, it appears totally real to us and we experience reality as if it were real. Your brain constructs what you perceive to be our reality:

Also, watch this amazing Ted Talk video with Harvard trained brain scientist, Jill Bolte Taylor, who found an unexpected shortcut to inner peace when she had a stroke and the left hemisphere of her brain stopped functioning properly:

“So who are we?We are the life-force power of the universe,with manual dexterity and two cognitive minds.And we have the power to choose, moment by moment,who and how we want to be in the world.Right here, right now,I can step into the consciousness of my right hemisphere, where we are.I am the life-force power of the universe.I am the life-force powerof the 50 trillion beautiful molecular geniuses that make up my form,at one with all that is.Or, I can choose to step into the consciousness of my left hemisphere,where I become a single individual, a solid. Separate from the flow, separate from you.I am Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor:intellectual, neuroanatomist.These are the “we” inside of me.Which would you choose?Which do you choose?And when?I believe that the more time we spendchoosing to run the deep inner-peace circuitryof our right hemispheres,the more peace we will project into the world,and the more peaceful our planet will be.”

5) Your Reality Is Shaped By Your Thoughts and Feelings

“The stream of human knowledge is heading toward a non-physical reality. The universe begins to look more like a great thought than a great machine.” ~ Sir James Jeans

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” –Dr. Wayne Dyer

Within the context of our life theme(s), we control our personal reality through what we think, what we feel, and what we do.

The way the world works is simple physics – what you put out is what you get back. Whatever frequency you give off is the reflection that comes back to you. If you understand that everything is neutral and doesn’t have built-in meaning, you don’t have to react in any particular way to anything that happens. Every circumstance and every situation, if you can see it as fundamentally neutral, then you can decide (make a conscious choice) that it must serve you in a positive way, even if you don’t intellectually understand how that can be so.

If you put a positive spin on what appears to be a negative circumstance, you can only get a positive affect out – even if someone else’s intention toward you is negative.

That is not to say you must be positive all of the time. There’s are times when grief, anger, and other negative emotions are appropriate. Still, you can choose to love life even during the most challenging times.

Bottom line: choose to love and celebrate life and life will love you back.

Songwriter Leonard Cohen on the meaning of the his song Hallelujah:

“It explains that many kinds of hallelujahs do exist, and all the perfect and broken hallelujahs have equal value.”

Cohen further elaborates on the meaning of the song:

“Finally there’s no conflict between things, finally everything is reconciled but not where we live. This world is full of conflicts and full of things that cannot be reconciled but there are moments when we can transcend the dualistic system and reconcile and embrace the whole mess and that’s what I mean by Hallelujah. That regardless of what the impossibility of the situation is, there is a moment when you open your mouth and you throw open your arms and you embrace the thing and you just say ‘Hallelujah! Blessed is the name.’ And you can’t reconcile it in any other way except in that position of total surrender, total affirmation. That’s what it’s all about.”

6) Your Thoughts Create Parallel Realities

“There are vibrations of many different universes right here, right now. We’re just not in tune with them. There are probably other parallel universes in our living room–this is modern physics. This is the modern interpretation of quantum theory, that many worlds represent reality.” ~ Dr. Michio Kaku, Theoretical Physicist, Professor and Best-selling Author

“The quantum theory of parallel universes is not the problem, it is the solution. It is not some troublesome, optional interpretation emerging from arcane theoretical considerations. It is the explanation, the only one that is tenable, of a remarkable and counter-intuitive reality.” ~ David Deutch

The Many-Worlds Interpretation (MWI) of quantum mechanics was formulated in 1957 by Hugh Everett III, in his Princeton Ph.D. thesis. In Everett’s “many worlds” universe, each possible outcome during a person’s life is played out in an alternate universe. This means that the number of alternative scenarios in each person’s life is virtually endless.

According to many-worlds, all the possible outcomes of a quantum interaction are realized. The MWI holds that as soon as a potential exists for any object to be in any state, the universe of that object transmutes into a series of parallel universes equal to the number of possible states in which that the object can exist, with each universe containing a unique single possible state of that object.

According to various polls, the Copenhagen Interpretation and the MWI have a similar share of the votes among physicists, but many of the ‘big names’ (Hawking, Feynman, Deutsch, Weinberg) have subscribed to the MWI and it appears to be gaining a wider acceptance. In recent years MWI has been proven, to some extent, both mathematically and experimentally.

7) We Each Have Our Own Personal Reality

“You make your own reality. You get what you concentrate upon. There is no other main rule.” ~ Seth

If everyone is creating their own parallel realities, then how do they all merge into one reality? The answer is: they DON’T.

Every single one of us has our OWN REALITY. Yes, it seems that we’re sharing a reality, but we’re actually NOT sharing the SAME reality. The only way that you perceive that you have other people in your reality is, by agreement. You agree to create out of your own energy, out of your own consciousness, your version of them in YOUR reality to interact with.

You are actually just your own reality. And, even though it seems to be populated with billions of people, they are simply the versions of them that you have created in your reality to interact with. So, it really doesn’t matter what anyone else’s intention toward you is, you can decide whether their intention and their vibration and their state of being is appropriate for you, is preferable to you.

And when you decide what is preferable, then regardless of anyone else’s intention, the energy (being the energy of your own reality) will serve you in the way and in the manner you have deemed it will serve you because of the decisions you have made.

8) We’re All Designed to Be Conscious Creators

“Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.” ~ Jesus (Mark 11:23)

“You are given the gift of the gods; you create your reality according to your beliefs; yours is the creative energy that makes your world; there are no limitations to the self except those you believe in.” ~ Seth

You are manifesting all of the time (24/7) via the energetic signals you are continually transmitting to the Zero Point Field (ZPF) – aka unified field, Divine Matrix, etc. The ZPF is an energy field that connects all things. You are in a relationship with the ZPF as an energetic charge doing an energy dance with it.

General rule: Live in a state of gratitude and loving life and you will manifest more to love. What you appreciate, appreciates.

To consciously manifest something, you must set an intention to do so. Intention is desire plus focused thought plus feeling to affect an outcome.

Setting an intention is not the same as praying for something to happen. When you pray for something to manifest, you are acknowledging that it does not already exist, and therefore it’s unlikely that it ever will manifest.

Things can only manifest in the now… What you call different moments, are actually the same moment from a different point of view. It’s the same moment. So, everything is HERE. Everything is NOW. And, manifestation is just about allowing yourself to be the proper vibration (the proper frequency) that will allow you to see that part of the now that was heretofore invisible to you. It’s as simple as that.

If you want to manifest something and you don’t stay in the appropriate state that represents the manifestation, the manifestation will remain invisible to you. When you talk about manifesting, you are actually talking about bringing something to you that is ALREADY PRESENT!

Things already exist HERE and NOW. You don’t have to actually reach out to some endless dimension and endless netherworld to attract something to you and somehow bring it into manifestation in physical reality. It’s already in existence. It’s already here. Because, there is only HERE. There is only NOW.

Here are the steps to command matter by setting your intention(s):

Sit comfortably, with you back upright and hands on your knees.

Still the mind. Begin by breathing slowly and rhythmically, as though you are breathing through your heart. Your in-breath should be the same duration as your out-breath (about 5 seconds). Do not hold your breath between the in and out breaths. Do this for about 3 minutes or longer. This will help you get into the Alpha brainwave state, where manifestation works the best.

While doing the slow breathing, it helps to focus on an anchor (breath, count, ah, ohm, chanting, rosary, etc) while slowing the breath. Best is to focus on something that puts you into a state of love, gratitude, or compassion (see the HeartMath Quick Coherence®). I personally use the image of my granddaughters (at the top of this page) to very quickly drop into my heart. (I cannot emphasize enough the importance of setting your intention after first dropping into your heart).

Stay in the present. Turn off mind chatter.

Don’t force things and don’t rush. Accept what happens.

State your intention. Intend with an active expression, not a passive one. Use present tense. For example, say “I am healthy now” rather than “I will be healthy” or “I have always been healthy.” Be very specific. Make sure that your intentions are highly specific and directed. The more detailed, the better. State your entire intention, frame it as positive, and include the following: who, what, when, where, why, and how.

It is vitally important that you believe. Keep fixed in your mind the desired outcome. Do not let yourself think of failure. Remove any doubts. Belief is a key to unlocking the power of intention.

Vividly imagine and FEEL your intention as ALREADY fulfilled using all five senses in vivid detail. The more detailed, the greater the likelihood for success. What choices will you make? What behaviors will you demonstrate? What will you do? And, how will it feel? Visualize and feel in your heart you being in situations in which your intention has already been realized.

Move into a state of gratitude! Give thanks for your live before it’s made manifest. Gratitude is the ultimate state of receivership, because gratitude means it has already happened. The thought sends the signal out, and the feeling draws the event back. The longer you linger in gratitude, the more you are magnetizing your new life.

Move aside. Surrender your intention and let it go. Moving aside is an essential part of the process. Allow the universe to fulfill your intention. Understand that you are merely the conduit. And, bless the unseen – the intelligence within you and all around you – to move closer to you; to move in you; to stir in you; to move through you and all around you; and to show cause and evidence in your life.

Later on (but don’t overdo it – max 2-3 times per day), go through these intention steps it again. Get big and broadcast your signal into the field: “This is who I am.”

It’s good to do it immediately upon waking and right before going to sleep – because your brain is already in the alpha state.

Get up from your intention session, not hoping that your prayers are going to be answered. Instead, GET UP AS IF YOUR INTENTION IS ALREADY MANIFEST, THEN IT’S DONE! In other words, act as if you’ve already manifest your intention. Be that new person.

10) We’re All Here to Create a Better World Together

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” – Gandhi

Although our world seems chaotic and broken in many ways, know that you don’t need to fix the world or fix anybody else for that matter. For crystal, clear clarity on this, read this absolutely brilliant article by my good friend, Cherie Roe Dirksen:

11) We Are Always Being Guided By the Universe

If you feel lost, and don’t quite know what to do with your life, first and foremost do the things noted above that put you into a state of gratitude and loving life. Then, pay close attention to signals from the universe. If you get the same message three or more times, it’s likely time to take action on that message.

I just LOVE those 3 adorable faces at the beginning of the article – what treasures! Ross, this is such a great article – thank you SO much for sharing your wisdom and life-journey findings with us. I know this article will make a huge impact in many readers lives. Much love, Cherie xxx

Wow! This article is amazing and comprehensive. With all the excellent metaphysical links and tangible, earthly background material inserted throughout, my intellect is receiving plenty of confirmation backing up everything my inner voice has been whispering to me for many years. A delicious 11-course meal for both brain AND spirit. Beautiful job Ross and CLN.

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